Investigative Reporting

Chapter 8 in "News Reporting and Writing" is kind of a how-to guide to investigative reporting. The chapter takes readers through the investigative process and explains some the problems that arise during most investigations.

Conducting an investigation is one of the most challenging aspects of journalism. Yet, in my opinion, it is one of the types that reaps the most reward. The chapter gave a brief history of muckraking in the U.S. press. Forerunners like Tarbell, Sinclair, and Dreiser set a precedent for the investigative reporting that was to follow.

I think the key subject that the reading addressed is that no good reporter decides to pursue an investigation unless there is a basis to their suspicion. I know that as a writer I get excited about the idea of proving my thesis. I need to, however, also be able to recognize when evidence disproves the theory. Only through investigation and a strong sense of determination will an investigation be fruitful.

The chapter highlights the importance of organization during an investigation. I don't expect this to be a problem for me considering that I'm a compulsive planner. I do, however, have a problem with being confrontational. I can't imagine going after a tough source and really having to be aggressive to get the information I need. But I suppose some of that gumption is built up gradually.

As far as the actual writing is concerned, I think the hard news lede doesn't do the writing justice. I really like the example for the Peace Corps story where the article started out with a human touch and then moved into a the news.

The IRE reading for today gave some examples of recent investigative reports and the ramifications of the stories. I noticed two of the example were from Minnesota and it was nice to read about the work of journalists I recognized.

The one thing that the investigations had in common was that they took one element that would be important to an audience and went with it. For instance, many dealt with taxes or government action. Some were specifically human interest but they were all broad enough to interest a number of people. Because investigative pieces take so much money and time, it is important the you go after a story that will interest your audience. An off-the-wall story may have promise but it must also hold up to the news worthiness judgments so that the audience wants to care about the injustice that's exposed.